Morse, Reyes Crowned in Day Two at Valley Championships

IOWA CITY, Iowa - For the second straight year, Madyson Morse and Eva Reyes are Missouri Valley Conference Champions. The Illinois State Swim and Dive duo paired up to win consecutive 200-yard IM and 1M Diving titles Thursday in Day Two at the Valley Championships.

Morse's second straight 200-yard IM title came in style as she became the first Redbird in program history to win consecutive 200 IM titles at the Valley Championships. She bested her prelim mark of 2:03.49, going a personal best 2:00.61 in the finals Thursday. 

The Redbirds have now won three of the last four Valley 200-yard IM titles. (Kierston Farley-Sepe, 2020; Morse, 2022 and 2023) 

On the boards, Reyes dominated en route to a 1M two-peat, posting an overall score of 278.88 in the finals. She is the first diver in league history to win consecutive Valley 1M Diving titles as a true freshman and sophomore. 

As a program, Illinois State has won ten of the last 23 MVC 1M Diving titles, more than any other Valley program over that stretch, and three consecutive 1M crowns. Reyes is the third Redbird to win consecutive 1M titles, joining former Valley Diver of the Year winners Wenting Zhang (2012-2013) and Krystal Featherston (2003-2005). 

Other Highlights:

• The Redbird Relays grabbed another silver medal while turning in another school record. Morse, Ella Turken, Mia Snow and Emma Feltzer secured second in the 200-yard Freestyle relay with a time of 1:31.72, which broke the school record from earlier this season. 
• Feltzer secured silver in the 50-yard Freestyle Thursday, finishing with a time of 23:96 that nearly brought down Marissa Yontz's mark of 23:94 from 2015. 
• Junior Olivia Gonder's personal best in the 200 IM secured All-MVC Honorable Mention honors. She posted a mark of 2:02.22 to beat her previous best from the 2022 Valley Championships. 
• Divers Kamryn Blake and Gaby Russell secured All-Valley Honorable mention selections on the 1M boards. Blake finished sixth with a score of 247.38 and Russell finished eighth with a mark of 233.85. 

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